Could a citizens’ assembly help set out a post-pandemic recovery plan for Wales? ERS Cymru has advocated for the use of deliberative democracy and citizens’ assemblies for many years. But it’s an idea that has renewed importance when it comes to the Covid pandemic. Posted 09 Jul 2020
Fairer results and real representation: 20 years of PR on the London Assembly This week marks 20 years since AMS was first used to elect the London Assembly. How has it fared? Posted 04 May 2020
Looking back at a decade of proportional representation for local elections in Scotland "When we now come to use Westminster’s one-person-takes-all system in Scotland, it seems perverse and unwieldly." Posted 04 May 2020
Deepening democracy with Scotland’s Local Democracy Bill Democracy isn’t static, it is a process. It isn’t always simple or easy, and today it is being tested under the strain of a crisis of trust, one which affects political institutions, the public square... Posted 30 Mar 2020
Where is proportional representation used in the UK? Westminster’s voting system is well and truly broken. The system with which we elect our MPs is struggling to produce fair and representative results. The 2017 General Election showed that, for the third time in a... Posted 05 Nov 2019
A tale of two local by-elections: how STV produces fairer outcomes On Thursday 3rd October, as on most Thursdays, several local authority by-elections took place throughout Britain. These by-elections occur when a vacancy arises due to a local councillor resigning or passing away. Two of Thursday’s... Posted 04 Oct 2019
Local elections: How voters in England were cheated by a broken voting system Local democracy in England and Wales has long been under strain – with contests often seeing dismally low turnout, or indeed no contest taking place at all. But new research from the ERS adds fresh... Posted 30 Jul 2019
ERS is the Press: May 2019 In a month that began and ended with elections for local councils and the European Parliament – both of which showed the changing nature of British politics and the continued decline of the two main... Posted 05 Jun 2019
Even council leaders are uncomfortable with the ‘one party states’ of First Past the Post May’s local elections in England showed just how unfit-for-purpose the voting system is, as voters were left with random results and warped council chambers. The elections saw big swings against the two main parties, as... Posted 16 May 2019
England’s 2019 local elections – The places where around half of voters go unrepresented On 2 May, thousands of people were elected to serve as councillors in local authorities across England. While a lot of attention has been given to the overall performances of political parties and independent candidates, little scrutiny... Posted 13 May 2019